Thursday, February 25, 2010

Handmade Nation is coming to town!

I am looking forward the upcoming screening of Handmade Nation here in Christchurch. The one and only screening will be held on Thursday 4 March at the Hollywood Cinema in Sumner. Come out and support the local craft community, and learn about the new Handmade movement (if you're not already familiar with it!).

The lovely Miss Millie, in conjunction with Felt, is bringing Handmade Nation to Christchurch. The doors open at 7pm, with the screening beginning at 7:30pm. Tickets are $20 each, and include a glass of wine and nibbles on arrival – bring your ID if you are lucky enough to look under 25. Tickets are available here from Miss Millies shop on felt. You can also RSVP to the event on facebook, and invite your friends along too.

Saturday, February 20, 2010

Stash reHash project No 1

This is my first project from my stash reHash haul. It's also my first knitting project in a long time! I had thought about making myself a cardigan, but was concerned it was a bit too ambitious. So I made a baby cardigan for my friend's gorgeous wee baby girl Brook.

I'm really pleased with how it turned out. I had to google casting off to refresh my memory, but everything else came back to me without too much trouble. Now I just need to find some yarn to use for my next project, this gorgeous cowl from phydeaux.

Sunday, February 14, 2010

The Last Supper

As you may recall, I mentioned in this post that I was getting close to finding out for sure why I didn't feel so flash during the second half of last year. At the beginning of December I got a blood test result that said I most likely had Coeliac Disease. This is a disorder where eating any food that contains gluten damages the small intestine and can prevent nutrients being absorbed. The doctor said that although the blood test results were pretty conclusive, the way to officially diagnose it is through a biopsy. Since the appointment would be a few months away, she said I should stop eating gluten in the meantime, and start again a few weeks before the biopsy.

For seven weeks I incorporated gluten-free foods into my diet, and was starting to feel better for it. A few weeks ago I got a letter informing me of the appointment, so had to start including gluten back into my diet. Straight away I noticed the effects, my vision went slightly odd, I felt tired and my brain went a bit foggy. So it became quite obvious it wasn't doing me any favours. The one good thing about being allowed to eat gluten again was that I could eat some of the yummy things I'd been missing out on, one last time. I didn't go as crazy as I had thought I would, but did eat cookies and cream ice cream, tim tams, pringles, black forest chocolate and raspberry licorice. Those few weeks felt like the last supper!

Now that I do have an official diagnosis it's back to gluten-free for me, and I'm starting to feel better for it. Fortunately now there are are lot more products available than there used to be, and I have acquired a small collection of cookbooks with lots of yummy recipes. So I won't be missing out too much. Here's to a much better 2010 than 2009 was!